Sen. Lindsey Graham apologizes for Pelosi ‘surgeries’ comment

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has apologized for remarks he made about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, saying the comments were “a poor attempt at humor.”

According to a Bloomberg report, Graham said the following of Pelosi at a private fund-raiser after the address: “Did you see Nancy Pelosi on the [House] floor? Complete disgust. If you can get through all the surgeries, there’s disgust.”

Pelosi appeared to be visibly upset during Netanyahu’s address. She later released a statement saying “I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech - saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.”

Late Tuesday, Graham still called her reaction in the chamber “a bit disturbing,” but apologized for his comments.

“I made a poor attempt at humor to talk about her reaction and for that I apologize,” Graham told NBC News.

“[Netanyahu] is not the problem in the mid-east, it’s the Iranians, and anyone who wants to focus on the Prime Minister of Israel I think has got their priorities wrong,” Graham said.